Sent project to MAG for a traffic signal at the intersection of Cedar Hills Drive and Canyon Road. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) with MAG rates all the projects they receive requests for to determine which ones they will fund. This is an annual process and the funding varies each year based on what they receive from the federal government. This year MAG had about $40 million to allocate but approximately $200 million worth of projects were submitted for their review. Their emphasis is on regional projects and areas that are safety issues. Our project received a score of 68 out of 105, which puts it as a Tier 2 level as defined by MAG. It is unlikely that our project will be funded by MAG as the Tier 1 projects will consume their available funds for the year. David Bunker will continue to work with the County on Canyon Road improvement requests. We sent a letter to the County in partnership with Pleasant Grove suggesting some improvements with the two cities being willing to take on some maintenance, but so far, we have not heard back from the County on whether or not they are going to do any upgrades now that they own the road. CM Zappala suggested we also discuss with the County placing a sign redirecting large trucks to North County Blvd instead of Canyon Road in order to make it more safe and help the road last longer. David will discuss with the County.
Current property tax rate is .002315. Mayor asked for a review of revenue if the tax rate was dropped to .0019. The certified tax rate keeps revenues consistent year after year, even though expenses rise with inflation. Fire expenses have increased from $178,015 in 2006 to $675,000 expected in 2016. Police services increased from $276,943 to $406,368 in the same 10 years. We do get a great deal on our public safety services. Saratoga Springs pays $2.8 million/year just for police and they have a population of approximately 23,000. Their fire budget is around $400,000. Expenses have also increased for programs such as Family Festival, recreation, park expenses. Projects in the Capital Projects Fund rely on unrestricted fund balances year after year. Staff feels reducing the tax rate this significantly would require the city to stop offering some services, would negatively affect future planned projects, and would delay maintenance projects. This could put us in a similar position other cities are facing, such as Highland and PG, with roads not being maintained and services being cut.
Council Meeting
Public Comment
Ken Cromar - Has received a lot of abuse and has not received an apology. Cedar Hills Chat Room Facebook page shows that bearing of false witness is a problem. People don't understand what happened at Golf Course meeting, which was a hostile environment and he's never received an apology. Wants to know if Mayor has anything to say to correct the record or to apologize to him. Adds his voice to Curt Crosby and Sam Bushman in asking for the Mayor's resignation. Says he is unfit to be Mayor.
City Reports
David Bunker - TSSD met last month. Main topic was replacement of several of high speed blowers that change out air at sewer plant. Blowers that were purchased with plant expansion are having multiple issues and need to be replaced. March 8th is the annual emergency preparedness meeting. Notifications have been sent out through flyers, emails, and social media. The meeting will be at 7pm. Golf Course is now open. Jr Jazz went well. Adding a summer Minecraft Video Game Design class, which is being organized by Code to the Future. Advertising for this will start going out soon.
CM Zappala - LPPSD met and changed the structure of the executive committee, which changes operations on day-to-day basis. Cedar Hills will oversee fire budget, Alpine will oversee policy budget, and Highland will oversee operations overall. Working on better operational manual. Has been working on revising General Guidelines and we will be discussing later in the meeting. Changes have been made based on feedback by interested parties.
CM Rees - Parks & Trails Committee met and discussed plans for the year. Day of service is to work on roundabout on Cedar Hills Drive, and this will be held on May 14th. They will be removing some of the existing vegetation, raising the center, and planting new plants and flowers.
Mayor Gygi - Addressed what Mr. Cromar said. Last Council meeting we changed the ordinance regarding recording meetings, which benefited Mr. Cromar. If Mr. Cromar feels an apology is needed then they should meet together and determine what apologizes need to be made on both sides. Mr. Cromar challenged him to a debate on Sam Bushman's radio.
CM Geddes - Utah Valley Dispatch did not meet this month but he went to look at progress of the building.
CM Bailey - Arts Committee hasn't yet met and may be struggling.
CM Crawley - Read statement stating he feels the city was wrong limiting Mr. Cromar's ability to record meetings. Feels the city was wrong to create the original ordinance and was wrong to stop the meeting to discuss having Mr. Cromar removed. Says we have an obligation to stand up and defend the Constitution. He has seen Mr. Cromar harrassed for exercising his freedom. He apologized to Mr. Cromar and said his vote would be for the city to do so. He is going to do better standing up and defending the Constitution.
Mayor clarified that the original ordinance was created because meetings used to be held in a small room in the public safety issue and there were some issues with placement of cameras and safety for residents needing to exit the room. Now that we meet in a larger room the ordinance was unnecessary and the change was made.
Review/Action on 2016 Budget Amendments
- General Fund: 10-40-305 Legal Services increasing $100,000 for contracted services and $2,500 for ETJ Law (former attorney). This will be paid with unrestricted funds from the General Fund.
- Water & Sewer Fund: 51-16500 Water Improvements-Motor replacement for Cottonwood well requires up to $50,000 with the use of equity. The current motor is not working and needs to be rebuilt. New motor would be about $8000 more and wouldn't be ready for eight weeks. The rebuild will take 8-10 weeks, which means this well won't be available as a backup for the PI system. Hopefully this won't be an issue as demand isn't as high earlier in the summer and we anticipate higher runoff from the snow this year. CM Crawley suggested we keep a replacement motor always available. Staff indicated that the motor is quite large, so we don't have space to store it and don't have the ability to move it as it requires a crane. Motor is about 3 feet in diameter and about 5.5 feet tall.
This was approved.
Discussion on FY 2017 General Fund, Golf Fund, and Golf Debt Service Fund
Items in updated budget include list of priorities from Council retreat in January.
Residents will need to vote this fall on whether or not to extend the CARE tax, which goes to arts and recreation. This is an added 1/10 of 1% on sales tax items. Things that have received CARE tax funds in our city include:
- FY 2011-2012 Heritage Park Basketball Court
- $36,245 Project—CARE tax allocation $24,938
- FY 2012-2014 Community Center Basement
- $385,917 Project—CARE tax allocation $122,840
- FY 2013-2014 Mesquite Soccer Park Bathroom
- $76,856 Project—CARE tax allocation $41,175
- FY 2015-2017 Art’s Committee Events
- CARE tax budget allocation $6,000 per year
- FY 2015-2017 Bayhill Park
- $464,224 Estimated project—CARE tax allocation estimated $80,621
- FY 2016-2017 Heritage Park Improvements
- $50,000 Estimated project—CARE tax allocation estimated $37,000
General Fund - Significant Changes
- Certified property tax new growth estimated $5,000-$20,000
- Motor vehicle tax increase estimated $5,000
- Sales tax revenues three-year average increase estimated $48,000
- Telecom general revenues estimated decrease $10,000
- Class C Roads restricted revenue estimated increase $25,000
- Garbage and recycling estimated increase $8,000 (based on usage, not fee increases)
- Processing, printing & postage fees increase $5,000
- Recreation programs increase $10,000
- Event center rentals increase $15,000
- Overall General fund revenues increase $110,935 or 2.85%
Wages and Benefit Changes
- Permanent employees proposed 3% merit increase $22,000
- Market analysis adjustment, potentially needed
- Health insurance premiums estimated increase 10%-12%
- PEHP dental insurance premium estimated 5%-10% increase
- Elected Officials’ alternative for life insurance $30 stipend option
- No change in rates proposed by the Utah Retirement System
- $9,000 set aside for health & dental benefit changes
Preliminary Street Maintenance Plan
- Public works is looking to use HA5 overlay road treatments this spring. It is a high density mineral bond surface treatment that extends asphalt life, and has a nice look. Ideally it is applied 2-3 years after a road has been paved to get the maximum benefit.
- The Cedars J-2 and J-3 subdivisions and the Meadows subdivision are on next year’s schedule to receive maintenance.
- Bayhill drive, Cedar Hills drive, Cottonwood drive, and Box Elder drive are under evaluation, and may have some maintenance performed in the next fiscal year.
Parks Expenditures
- Park maintenance and committee increase $10,225
- $2,370 Wilkinson park maintenance contract increase for existing parks
- $2,630 partial year maintenance costs for Bayhill Park
- $1,000 Cedar Hills drive roundabout landscape design
- $4,000 one-time decorative rock and electrical projects
- $2,000 Christmas lighting
- $1,200 service day
- $800 community breakfast
- $600 Santa night
- $500 beautification award
- $125 light up Cedar Hills
* Requested a bid from Wilkinson's to handle maintenance of flower beds in front of Community Center. Right now this is done by golf staff, but Parks & Trails Committee expressed concern that it was overlooked if golf staff was busy with course. They felt the flower beds should look nice as the entry the our Community Center. Staff will find out what the cost would be and report back to Council.
Other Expenditures
- Public works tech assistant full-time 40 hours a week $43,700
- $13,100 allocated to General Fund
- P/T communications specialist at 25 hours a week $20,000
- $10,000 allocated to General Fund
- Legal services $20,000 increase
- Fixed retainer fee $5,800 per month or $69,600 annually
- Fire projected increase $13,500
- Street and sidewalk maintenance increase $13,000
- Mobile resident request app $1,300-$7,400
CM Crawley feels there isn't a need to hire a communications person. I have advocated for this for many reasons. Most other cities have someone on staff who handles communication internally and externally. This person would be responsible for the mobile resident app that has been discussed (residents can use to report and track issues), communicate with residents via social media on city events, maintenance projects, and city issues/emergencies, help with GRAMA requests, work on education materials for things such as water conservation, and help the city utilize technology more to help residents who want to be involved. Other cities do things such as record City Council meetings and post to YouTube or live stream meetings with YouTube so residents who can't attend in person can still watch the meetings. This person would handle all communications externally, and would also act as a liaison between Council and staff on city issues that come up between Council meetings. CM Crawley felt those residents who want to be involved already have many ways to be involved. I feel that we have many residents who would like to be involved, but need other avenues available through technology to stay involved. Many have other commitments on Tuesday nights or prefer receiving information through methods such as email or social media instead of visiting the city's website. This is just a placeholder and will be discussed in more depth later on.
Golf Budget Highlights
- Green fees are projected at $562, 000 for the current fiscal year based on the last several years February through June average revenue amounts
- Windy, wet weekend weather during May 2015 caused green fees to decline over $17,000 lower than the prior year
- Golf pass trades: 2013-$17,500, 2014-$40,200, and 2015-$33,436
- Overall operational budgeted support from other funds $168,500
- 165 acres of open space or $1,021 of operating support required per acre
- 54 acres of irrigation lines or $3,120 per acre of irrigation
- Motor pool charges increase $10,750 for two fairway mowers
- 80 golf carts will be replaced February 2017 decrease $7,000
- Golf cart repair reduced $3,000 due to newer carts
- Green fees reduced $5,000
- Pro shop revenue increase $10,000 and corresponding expense $4,500
- $2,500 custodian allocation moved out of payroll to building maintenance
- Overall wages and benefits increase $3,750
- Supplies increase $2,500 for range balls
- Utilities increase $2,000 for electric costs
- Water pumping electric costs decreased $2,000
Golf Debt Fund Highlights
- Partially refunded 2005 General obligation was paid off 2/1/2016
- 2012 General obligation has principal and interest payment scheduled until 2/1/2035
- The principal and interest payments average approximately $384,000 annually
- The property tax debt levy was $309,970 for the current fiscal year
- The property tax debt levy is estimated at $309,770 for next fiscal year
- Motor vehicle fees allocated based on property tax levy amounts and approximately $10,000 in fund balance make up the difference
I brought up that I would like to see some funding to extend the golf course nets on the driving range. We know we continue to have an issue with balls going over the net. We did raise a portion of the net in one section, which did reduce the number of balls going over the net in that area. I have concerns with stray balls going into Mesquite Park or hitting someone walking on the sidewalk next to the driving range. We have residents who live in that area who have indicated they have hundreds of golf balls ending up in their yards from the driving range and have asked the Council to research options to reduce this. My suggestion is that we reduce the cost of the proposed golf maintenance shed by $35,000 to pay for the netting. Others feel that we should try other things first or that those affected should install nets on their own property to keep golf balls out of their yards. I don't mind trying other things if we feel they would be effective. My hope is that we can look at this from the perspective of community. We have residents on Canyon Road who want the the city to make improvements and lower the speed because of safety. We have residents who want us to install a sewer line in Canyon Road so when their septic tanks fail they can connect to sewer. We've had residents ask us to install a stop sign on Harvey Blvd due to speed issues. We had residents in the Cedars who wanted the school district to add a school bus route to their area because of safety issues with their kids walking to school. Last year we had PG residents whose septic systems failed asking to connect to our sewer lines even though they were not yet boundary adjusted into our city, and we bend over backwards to help them. We all may have issues that are important to us or cause us concern with regards to safety and these issues may not be important to others in the city, but we would hope that the Council would listen and attempt to address the issue. I dislike the attitude that anyone who built next to a golf course should've known better and, therefore, should expect issues with stray golf balls. We can't fix every issue, but I'd like residents to know that we give the concerns raised serious consideration and fix it if we can. If we as a city-operated business are causing an issue, then I'd like us to look at what we can do to minimize the impact. With businesses that have built in our city, we have required them to do certain things to minimize the impact to surrounding neighbors, such as installing sound barriers, certain lighting, landscaping, etc. As a city-owned business, I think it is right for us to look at what we can do to minimize the impact of our operations on surrounding neighbors, just as we expect other commercial developers to do. Staff has a concern with my suggestion of reducing the cost of the maintenance shed to cover the nets as they feel it's a slap in the face to the staff who work in the building. I sympathize, but I imagine the residents who are asking us to look into this issue may feel the same way when we tell them that they should install their own nets.
The city contract for waste and recycling services is currently under review. After receiving qualified bids from several service providers in April 2011, the city council authorized a five year contract with Waste Management of Utah for waste and recycling services. The original contract is set to expire May 1, 2016. The original agreement contains a provision for a two (2) year extension with the contractor subject to the approval of city council. Staff has reviewed the extension agreement and will present it to the city council. This was approved.
Discussion on Design Guidelines and Zoning Ordinance Changes
Public Comment - Candace Smart feels it would behoove the city to let the Blu Line project go through. Not letting it go through will raise legal fees for the city and keeps that property tax out of the city. Asks that we stop wasting tax dollars fighting the project. Three years is too long for them to sell their property.
CM Zappala has sent the draft revision to legal for review. Has shared the document with the rest of the Council and would like feedback. This will need to go to the Planning Commission for review and discussion on March 17th so Council needs to be prepared to send a product to PC by end of our next meeting.
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